This invention is related generally to hybrid organic-inorganic films, products incorporating the hybrid films, and methods for making the films and products.
Products, such as windshields, that incorporate ultraviolet (UV) filters typically benefit from an abrasion resistant coating on the UV filter to protect the filter and windshield from abrasion. The UV filtering and abrasion resistance for such products are typically implemented using an inorganic UV filter and a separate organic abrasion resistant coating. Unfortunately, this approach may suffer from long term weathering failures due to strain occurring at the interface between the inorganic UV filter and the organic adjacent layers or substrate due to differences in stress, coefficient of thermal expansion, hardness and modulus.
In many coating applications where UV filters are coated, the substrate material is a polymer which is typically a material with a substantially lower refractive index (RI) than that of the film or coating used for the UV filter. In this case, interference patterns due to the mismatch in refractive index (RI) between the low RI substrate and the high RI UV filter can be a serious problem, especially in 3D applications.